When the Money's Not Good Enough
by Ava Chanel
Summary: "What happens when it is?" Well, that'll be an interesting day... The offer the lawman makes Jayne during the episode Serenity, and why he doesn't take it. Gen, one-shot.


**A/N:** _Just a general one-shot about Jayne and his moral complexity. Based around the first episode of the series._

* * *

"We are what we repeatedly do."  
 _\- Aristotle_

 **When the Money's Not Good Enough**

* * *

Jayne liked his money how he liked his women; fast.

As he sat there and contemplated how the lawman's ear would look like decorating a string around his neck, he also patiently waited for his desperate plea. After all, Alliance folk had money and a comfortable way of life. Torture could get very uncomfortable. It happened all the time; whenever one of them rich, pampered men stared down the edge of a sharp blade or the cold metal of a barrel of a gun, the bribing was sure to start at any moment.

The lumbering mercenary sat hunched in a predatory crouch while watching the nervous, sweaty man fidget against his bindings to no avail. Truth be told, he liked this part. The anticipation, the growing anxiety, the lingering, unspoken threat that filled the air like a slow creeping, toxic smoke; all of it gave Jayne a rush. But mostly, he awaited the offers he knew were coming.

 _"His kind only believe in the reward, the payout. It's safer to be unattached; no emotional investment, no ulterior motives. A mercenary gives himself to the side with the highest bid_. _Who wins the auction today?"_

He almost scowled at the memory of the moony girl's observation, the one from the box. The doctor's little cute pet project had stared straight at him with creepifying, doll like eyes. Her gaze was enough to send chills down his spine, and she downright unnerved him with her presence and eerie words. If she hadn't been attractive and as naked as the day she'd come crawlin', he'd have suggested spacing the two a mite sooner. Heck, they'd only even ended up in this mess because of those two troublesome siblings in the first place.

And Kaylee...

"Think about it; your own ship, your own crew. You won't have to take orders from anyone ever again." Dobson reiterated the offer, as if it had fallen on deaf ears the first time around.

And maybe it had. Nobody could take the words 'turning on the captain' lightly, especially when said captain was Malcolm Reynolds. Jayne had to sit down on that one, really think on it. Before long, he got sidetracked by how badly he still wanted to cut on _Lawrence_. Now, why was that?

"Besides," Dobson pressed, "There's gotta be a part of you that would love the chance to outdo that captain of yours."

He wasn't entirely wrong. Then again, he wasn't particularly right, either. Going up against Mal meant going up against all of the crew, and something about that begged a question.

Jayne smirked. "That all you got, Lawrence?"

When the lawman floundered in confusion, Jayne shook his head. "So not only do they not teach ya how to withstand interrogation, they also don't tell ya how to bribe a man? You're really lettin' me down here, Lawrence." The mercenary _tsk_ ed and stood up to his full, intimidating height.

He then took a few long strides towards the Alliance mole until he was up in his face, close enough to be staring at the beads of sweat that coated his now clammy, pale skin, making his brown hair stick to his face.

Then, in a low, breathy voice, he said, "Probably shouldn'ta started with shootin' one of the 'verse's genius mechanics if'n you planned on offerin' me a better ship, don't ya think?"

Jayne brought the blade tip of his dagger to his own temple and tapped it lightly against the thin layer of skin there, indicating clearly how little he thought of the lawman.

Dobson's initial response was to open and close his mouth like a fish out of water.

When he'd finally gathered his bearings, he'd cleared his throat and answered him in a straight voice."With the amount of money that girl is worth, you can buy the best engineering crew there is for your ship. Some self taught mechanic from a backwater moon will hardly seem like a loss when you have pickings from all of the Allied planets," insisted Dobson.

There it was again; this time, Jayne thought about how he could fashion a human tongue as an accessory to his everyday wear. Dobson really didn't care at all about what he'd done; not a shred of remorse in his expression or his tone of voice. It grated on Jayne's nerves ever so subtly.

But the lawman wasn't done speaking his piece; "It won't just stop at that. The Alliance takes care of their own. One word of recommendation and you'll have a high paying, legitimate job working for us. No more petty theft or smuggling capers or protein meals. That includes access to full benefits and the best doctors on Ariel, as well as a constant, steady pay until retirement. You'll live a life of comfort for the rest of your days. All you have to do is help me _secure River Tam_!"

The obvious answer was yes.

No one had to do the math on that one. That sorta cash would get his momma the care she needed, and little Mattie proper treatment for his case of damplung.

But it was still going against the captain and, by default, the crew of Serenity. They'd think him a traitor after all they'd done for him.

Zoe would openly hate him. Wash would be disappointed, but probably not surprised. Inara would think a bit less of folk like him from then on. The preacher would pray for his sins. And maybe Kaylee, if she lived, would be the most shaken by it all. She was, after all, the only one on the ship that saw only the good in him, no matter how little of it there was. Jayne was sure there weren't a kinder soul in the 'verse.

That backwater, self taught, rim dwelling, grease covered, chipper mechanic was in critical condition, hanging on to life on the thinnest of threads, and it had rightfully darkened everyone's mood on the ship, including his own. Taking the lawman's offer would seal her fate and not for the better, Jayne knew that.

 _No emotional investment..._

This was his trade, the way the mercenary business worked. Hell, it was how he'd come aboard Serenity herself. He hadn't joined Mal and Zoe on good faith alone.

But Kaylee was dying, and that young Tam girl looked so fragile and broken when she'd come out of cryo, shivering in shock and fear. Her small, thin fingers were like claws digging into her brother's vest and dress shirt, and her large dark eyes had darted about the room like there'd been a shadow in every corner. When Inara had draped her in her own loose fitting golden robe, she'd appeared even smaller, her thin frame practically swimming in the thing.

And Kaylee was dying...

The l'il engineer was on that stretcher looking sickly pale, the rosy colour gone from her usually warm cheeks and lips. The captain had never looked so distressed the entire time Jayne had known him. He wore a permanent frown and the deep lines around his eyes and on his forehead seemed to linger longer than usual.

Even aware of all of this, Jayne squinted his eyes in suspicion and still only replied with, "Don't know how much I can trust an Alliance mole."

Dobson sighed deeply and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he answered, "Untie me and I'll give you an advance."

At that, the mercenary grinned from ear to ear.

* * *

 _"Funny how the lawman got out of his room, you havin' tied him up so well and all..."_

So, maybe he had helped him loosen them bindings a little.

 _"I didn't have nothin' to do with that."_

Mal didn't need to know every explicit detail. As a matter of fact, the captain had left him to his own devices with the lawman, specifically stating he'd trust his judgement on the matter beforehand.

 _"Anyhow, it all turned out just fine. Buzzards are the only ones gonna find him."_

After all was said and done, Jayne would always like fast money a whole lot better than promised money. Helping Dobson didn't mean he had to like him none. Sometimes, he didn't really like Mal, neither, but that never stopped him from doing the job. So long as he got paid, and dealing with an ex soldier who still had his honor meant that Mal would always be good on his word.

 _"But he did try to make a deal with you, right?"_

It was a hell of a deal, too. Truth be told, it was the easiest fast cash Jayne had made in years. He'd held him at knife point until the credits were transferred, and true to his word, he had undone his bindings.

 _"How come you didn't turn on me, Jayne?"_

When the deal was done, Jayne, with an amused smile on his face, grabbed the communicator from Dobson before hastily crushing it under his foot. The lawman's expression changed from one of concealed resentment to angry and confused, but he'd been far too slow to do anything else about it.

"'Nother thing they oughtta teach you Alliance folk in the core," Jayne explained smugly, still holding up his blade against Dobson's throat, "Never trust no one out in the black."

Kaylee was dying, and it was all thanks to a nervous man with sweaty hands, a gun, and a lack of a conscience.

He couldn't tell Mal that, though. Actually, he wouldn't tell Mal that he'd knocked the lawman unconscious shortly after, either. It would have been a lie to say that he hadn't taken pleasure in making the bruise on Dobson's head a little purple, and settled for that over an ear or a finger, no matter the temptation to do so. He hadn't wanted it to be too noticeable that he'd defied some sort of order from his captain in the event anyone decided to check in on the lawman.

He'd left Dobson in there like that, before locking the door from the outside and going to inform the others about what he'd learned. Naturally, he'd leave out certain parts.

But mostly, Jayne just wanted to hear how Kaylee was doing. He was pretty certain that if the snobby doctor didn't make good on his word, he'd space him himself, regardless of how Inara or Mal would take it. Clear as day to him she was bluffing on her threat to leave anyhow.

Still, Jayne couldn't help but think on what it would have been like to finally have his own ship and crew, as well as all that gorram money. Once the notion got into his head, he found himself fantasizing about it a lot more. Today, he couldn't particularly justify taking on that kind of a deal, especially due to the circumstances, but on a bad day, anything was possible.

Nonetheless, it hadn't hurt none to take some of Dobson's credits before the captain done seen an end to him. It satisfied a part of him to see Lawrence Dobson collapse after Mal's bullet entered his brainpan, if only because of all the trouble he'd brewed.

There was still a question yet to be answered though, and it seemed to be plaguing both captain and mercenary this time around; just what exactly _would_ it take to finally get Jayne to turn on both captain and crew?

Both men had an unshakable feeling that they'd be finding that out a lot sooner than they'd like...

* * *

 **A/N:** _Jayne's moral agenda is probably my favourite aspect of his character. He starts off in the series as someone you probably should hate and to be honest, I almost thought he'd be gone by the end of the first episode because of this very moment I've written here. Obviously, once watching the series, this becomes totally untrue. At the end of the day, I think he loves this crew and considers them an extension of his family, having even too much respect for Mal to ever betray him. Turning in Simon and River later in the series, I think, is his way of protecting the rest of the crew until he learns, in the episode Ariel, that the Tams are part of that family now as well. I'll most likely end up writing about that scenario as well since Jayne doesn't get enough love in my other Firefly stories._

 _FYI, some of the dialogue is obviously taken from the end of the episode Serenity between Mal and Jayne's exchange. I've italicized most of it. I am obviously not clever enough to create Joss' language._


End file.
